Sculpture of the Day: A Relief of Queen Victoria, 1899

Relief of Queen Victoria
Terracotta,, 1899
Robert Wallace Martin
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Robert Wallace Martin (1843-1923) was commissioned by the V&A to create this relief in commemoration of the laying of the foundation stone of the Victoria & Albert Museum on May 17, 1899. This event—the launch of the V&A from the South Kensington Museum—would be the last public state ceremony which the Queen attended.

Though specific to the V&A, the relief, however, didn’t come directly into possession of the then-new museum. The relief was completed and fired in 1899 and it was, then, submitted to the museum’s governors for their approval. The governors liked the likeness, but were bothered that it lacked pigment. They wanted a colored relief.

Martin threw a fit. He never took criticism well, but especially when he found it to be coming from people he thought unworthy of judging his art (which was pretty much everyone, in his estimation). He stormed out of the room with the plaque tucked under his arm and, when he returned to his studio, instructed that the relief be destroyed. Thankfully, no one listened to him and the plaque was put away. It remained at the Firm of R.W. Martin and Brothers of Southall until the dispersal of the Martin Collection at Sotheby's in October of 1924. Upon that auction, it ended up in a private collection until it was returned to the V&A by Maurice Isaacs in 1943. 

Sculpture of the Day: A Relief of Queen Victoria, 1899

Relief of Queen Victoria
Terracotta,, 1899
Robert Wallace Martin
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Robert Wallace Martin (1843-1923) was commissioned by the V&A to create this relief in commemoration of the laying of the foundation stone of the Victoria & Albert Museum on May 17, 1899. This event—the launch of the V&A from the South Kensington Museum—would be the last public state ceremony which the Queen attended.

Though specific to the V&A, the relief, however, didn’t come directly into possession of the then-new museum. The relief was completed and fired in 1899 and it was, then, submitted to the museum’s governors for their approval. The governors liked the likeness, but were bothered that it lacked pigment. They wanted a colored relief.

Martin threw a fit. He never took criticism well, but especially when he found it to be coming from people he thought unworthy of judging his art (which was pretty much everyone, in his estimation). He stormed out of the room with the plaque tucked under his arm and, when he returned to his studio, instructed that the relief be destroyed. Thankfully, no one listened to him and the plaque was put away. It remained at the Firm of R.W. Martin and Brothers of Southall until the dispersal of the Martin Collection at Sotheby's in October of 1924. Upon that auction, it ended up in a private collection until it was returned to the V&A by Maurice Isaacs in 1943. 

Unfolding Pictures: The Great Exhibition Fan, 1851

Click image for larger size.

Souvenir Fan from the Great Exhibition
England, 1851
This and all related images from:
The Victoria and Albert Museum

Created in England in 1851, this fan of hand-colored, printed paper and pierced bone sticks and guards inlaid with silver, commemorates the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations of 1851—a.k.a. Prince Albert big “Look What We Can Do” festival at Joseph Paxton’s ‘Crystal Palace’ in Hyde Park in London.

Fans were not only a major part of the exhibition, but they were also available for sale as souvenirs. This fan was made as a souvenir, but a high-end souvenir. Versions were also made without the silver inlay and with less-expensive wooden sticks and guards.

The reverse of the fan is printed in gilt with vignettes of female silhouettes between various coats-of-arms. The obverse features, in the center, a façade of the Crystal Palace flanked by the flags of participating nations.

Prince Albert, in all of his Coburg cleverness, saw to it that the proceeds of the Great Exhibition were used to purchase a large plot of land which would allow the building of the South Kensington Museum, now the V&A. Furthermore, a large portion of the winning entries in the exhibits were purchased for display in this proposed museum. So, without the Great Exhibition, we’d have no Victoria & Albert Museum. 

Click image for larger size.

Sculpture of the Day: A Relief of Queen Victoria, 1899

Relief of Queen Victoria
Terracotta,, 1899
Robert Wallace Martin
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Robert Wallace Martin (1843-1923) was commissioned by the V&A to create this relief in commemoration of the laying of the foundation stone of the Victoria & Albert Museum on May 17, 1899. This event—the launch of the V&A from the South Kensington Museum—would be the last public state ceremony which the Queen attended.

Though specific to the V&A, the relief, however, didn’t come directly into possession of the then-new museum. The relief was completed and fired in 1899 and it was, then, submitted to the museum’s governors for their approval. The governors liked the likeness, but were bothered that it lacked pigment. They wanted a colored relief.

Martin threw a fit. He never took criticism well, but especially when he found it to be coming from people he thought unworthy of judging his art (which was pretty much everyone, in his estimation). He stormed out of the room with the plaque tucked under his arm and, when he returned to his studio, instructed that the relief be destroyed. Thankfully, no one listened to him and the plaque was put away. It remained at the Firm of R.W. Martin and Brothers of Southall until the dispersal of the Martin Collection at Sotheby's in October of 1924. Upon that auction, it ended up in a private collection until it was returned to the V&A by Maurice Isaacs in 1943.